Dwarf palm

Dwarf palm
	Dwarf palm ( Chamaerops humilis )
Systematics
	Monocots
	Commelinids
Order :	Palm- like arecales
Family :	Palm family (Arecaceae)
Genre :	Dwarf palms
Type :	Dwarf palm
Scientific name of the genus
	Chamaerops
	L.
Scientific name of the species
	Chamaerops humilis
	L.

The dwarf palm ( Chamaerops humilis ) is the only species of the genus Chamaerops in the palm family (Arecaceae).

features

The dwarf palm is a fan palm that usually grows with multiple stems, often also bushy. As the Latin name humilis ("low") suggests, it seldom reaches heights of more than 4 to 6 meters. The crown consists of 70 to 80 centimeters wide, semicircular, mostly stiffly protruding fan leaves . The leaf blade is divided up to 2/3 into 10 to 20 lanceolate sections, these are green or gray to blue-green and two-pointed at the upper end. The edge of the petiole is toothed with thorns and the base is fibrous.

The plants are monoecious or dioecious, sometimes polygamous. The flowers are bright yellow in color and arranged in dense, squat, paniculate inflorescences . These arise between the petioles at the end of the trunk. The inflorescences are surrounded by a bract up to the lower branches. Male flowers usually contain 6 stamens, these sit on a fleshy cup. Three thick-fleshed carpels are enclosed by a female flower.

The flowering period extends from April to June.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 36 + 0-2s.

Occurrence

The area of the dwarf palm covers the western and central Mediterranean area and extends east to Italy and Libya. It usually grows in garigues and rock corridors on sandy soils. In central Spain it forms the “Palmetto Formation” with its short trunks that barely rise above the ground.

Systematics

Two varieties can be distinguished:

Chamaerops humilis var. Argentea André : It occurs in Morocco.
Chamaerops humilis var. Humilis .

use

The dwarf palm is cultivated as an ornamental plant throughout the Mediterranean . Their leaf buds are consumed as vegetables, the fibers that cover the trunk are used as “vegetable horsehair”, for example as cushioning material or for the production of brooms.

photos

Dwarf palms on Monte Pellegrino near Palermo
Habitat
Inflorescences
fruit
Chamaerops humilis var. Argentea in Morocco

literature

Andreas Bärtels: Color Atlas of Mediterranean Plants . Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1997, ISBN 3-8001-3488-8 .

Individual evidence

↑ Chamaeops humilis at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
↑ ^a ^b Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Chamaerops. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved August 2, 2018.

Web links

Commons : Zwergpalme - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

[IPCN-1] Chamaeops humilis at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis

[WCSP-2] Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Chamaerops. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved August 2, 2018.